Persons making their way to the Logos Hope book ship docked at the Cement Factory Pier in Rockfort, Kingston, yesterday.

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Governor general wishes collaboration between Logos book ship and social initiative

Governor General of Jamaica Sir Patrick Allen believes that the arrival of the Logos Hope presents a myriad of opportunities to impact youth development in the country, including a possible collaboration with his 'I Believe' initiative.

The Logos Hope is the world's largest book ship, which docked at the Cement Factory Pier in Rockfort, Kingston, on Thursday, with an expansive selection of 5,000 titles for sale to the Jamaican public.

The governor general noted that the ship's arrival is very timely, highlighting that the country has just recognised Reading Week.

"As governor general of Jamaica, I can identify easily with your vision, which is to extend equal opportunity for knowledge to people everywhere, expressing practical love, promoting peace by embracing diversity and guiding people towards a purposeful life," he said during the official welcome ceremony held at the pier yesterday.

"This allows me in so many ways to reflect on my own 'I Believe' initiative, a social programme focused on volunteerism to impact youth, family values and education. With our similarity of vision and as Logos Hope continues to foster goodwill throughout the world, perhaps, we should consider ways in which we can collaborate to enhance the mission of the 'I Believe' initiative and Logos Hope."

Allen added, "Hopefully, you can always have a community in Jamaica when you are gone and that footprint will continue until you return."

READING IS CRITICAL

Kingston's Mayor Delroy Williams highlighted similar sentiments, noting that it was critical that events such as the book fair target children, as reading is critical to their future.

"One of the opportunities is economic activity, which is very important to the city, and it fits into the vision of the city, which is to enhance economic activity. As a city, we want to be the capital of the Caribbean Sea; we want to be a dominant player on the Latin American landscape," Williams said.

"This is our vision that we are committed to, but we are quite understanding of what it takes to get there, and that is our children. It is not just to achieve the vision; it is to sustain the vision. And to sustain the vision, we need a reading city."

Logos Hope will be docked in Jamaica from May 12 to June 11.

The public can visit during the following hours: Tuesdays to Saturdays - 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sundays - 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. The ship will be closed on Mondays.